The present invention broadly relates to textile machines and, more particularly, to a spinning machine having one or more spinning positions or locations and serving for producing threads or yarns from staple fiber feed stock or fiber material.
Generally speaking, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spinning machine for producing threads or yarns from drawable or draftable staple fiber feed stock in which the feed stock passes from feed stock or fiber material supplies to spinning assemblies or positions, each of the spinning assemblies comprising, for instance, a feed member, a drafting member and a twist imparting member. The present invention is also concerned with a method of feeding feed stock or fiber material to a spinning position or location of a spinning machine.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a new and improved method of, and apparatus for, piecing or joining a reserve or spare feed stock or mass of fiber material, such as a reserve or spare roving, to a production feed stock or mass of fiber material, such as a production roving on textile machines, especially, by way of example and not limitation, a ring spinning machine.
As to the aforementioned first aspect of the present invention concerning feed stock supply, it is noted that currently known spinning machines of this type have the disadvantage that when the feed stock (which can be fiber sliver removed from a can or roving delivered from a bobbin) is depleted or exhausted, the provision of a new feed stock supply, i.e. a full can or a full bobbin, and the insertion of the fiber sliver or the roving into the spinning position is time-consuming. The downtime of the spinning position or of the complete spinning machine which accordingly results is responsible for considerable costs and impairs the efficiency and economy of the manufacturing operation. Downtime could be eliminated to a certain degree by ensuring presence of attendant personnel or operators available at any time to carry out a change at the instant of indication that the feed stock or fiber supply had been exhausted. However, this would also cause high fabrication costs. Further, manual piecing or joining of the feed stocks, as at present carried out, is frequently undesirable for quality reasons, since such piecing operation is almost always associated with a yarn or thread break or a thick place in the yarn or thread. This is particularly the case in relation to processing methods in which the yarn packages are woven or knitted, without further back winding operations, directly upon the loom or the knitting machines.
As to the second piecing or joining aspect of the invention, it is noted that with ring spinning machines, empty roving bobbins have to be replaced by full ones. When the bobbins are changed at random there is the necessity for an operator to stop the spindle, to pull off the end of the roving from the new or reserve bobbin and to insert this end into the drafting mechanism or arrangement, to wait a certain time until this end of the roving has gone through the drafting mechanism or arrangement, to again place the spindle into operation or rotation, then to piece or join up the end of the yarn of the reserve bobbin with the yarn of the spindle, to speed up the spindle again and to search for further empty roving bobbins. With simultaneous or batch or group changing of the bobbins, the operator usually tears the production roving and pieces or joins or fuses the end with the new or reserve roving. Also, this requires a high concentration on the part of the operator during a short time interval.